This be the blog

The American's have an approach to offender profiling called the top-down approach, and, in the direct words of David Canter from a talk I saw him do last year, it is "bullshit" - we weren't allowed to put that in our essay. The top-down approach looks at evidence from a crime scene and decides if the killer is "organised" or "disorganised", and there are two sets of personality traits, one for each category. So, for example, if a criminal doesn't hide the murder weapon, they would be considered a disorganised offender, and would therefore be deemed to have the characteristics of one. These characteristics include: being bad at relationships; not having a good job; having few friends; having a low level of education, whereas someone who did  hide the weapon would be married; employed; sociable etc. Offender profiling is designed to help police get an idea of the type of person they're looking for to aid their search, and it isn't need...

Three days in London, plenty of free time, and the beautiful first weeks of a student loan. What more could anyone want? Well, the ability to make decisions, perhaps. My first impression of the city was an almost unbelievable one; a train arriving on time seemed too unfeasible to be true, and the packed entrance to Euston station felt too packed and franchise filled to be practical. Despite the temping offer of "delicious" food, I knew in my heart the bill wouldn't be so sweet and I swallowed a mouthful of fume filled air to try and batter my hunger, casting my eyes above the busy square to hunt down the yellow print of a "way out" sign. Before reaching the aesthetically appealing Generator hostel I stumbled upon a treasure of the past - a red telephone box, of which I fondly remember the days when their magic powers put the corner of a beach in Wales in touch with family in the Midlands. It would appear they've changed over the years though, as this...